BritRam wrote:Very nice welcome so far. We are going to have lots of questions about all kinds of things as this is our first TT ever so very green. Just to let you know we got an Equalizer Hitch, Brake Controller, Large Grab Handle for main door & Twin 6v Batteries thrown in.

Your negotiation skills are first rate! Lots of good post in past few months, go read them and bring on your new questions. These people are fantastic and give information freely! You will love the Equalizer, it's a very good easy to use system!

Hey Top Shelf, we bought it from Sunridge RV yesterday. Small world. Did you buy as well or are you still looking ? Time to start going over the past post's & put a list of questions together.
Thanks everyone.

westend wrote:Congrats! The Dutchmen line is well regarded and should make for a lot of pleasant travels. Enjoy!

Congrats our family just took delivery of the very same unit a little over a month ago. We too are very new to the TT world and spent a little over a year at looking at different units. We look forward to years of fun.

I'm sure you'll probably get a lot of opinions on this. Some people use a check list. If it helps, you might consider one. For me, setup and tear down are simple affairs. I always, always, always take one or two last looks around, under and on top of the trailer before pulling out of a campground.

As far as setting up, Angel and I have a bit of a routine that we follow. She does the inside and I do the outside. She puts up the decorations, the fru-fru on the table and the counters, makes up the bed, unstraps the swivel rocker chairs, pops the top on a cold one for me, etc., while I work on the outside.

First thing I do is level the trailer side to side using leveling blocks. I have to get the left side of the trailer about 1 1/2" higher than the right so that the trailer will sit level when we put the slide out. After leveling side to side, I unhitch and then level front to back using the tongue jack. Next, I put down the stabilizer jacks. As soon as they are down, Angel puts out the slide. Caution: make sure you have left enough room between the trailer and any potential obstacles before deploying the slide out (I carry a tape measure). Next, I hook up the electric and water - also the cable for television if we are parked where they have cable. Next is the sewer hose. Then I put out our astro-turf, deploy the awning, undo the latches on the range hood vent, set out our chairs and start to relax. There are little things that also get done whenever I feel like it, things like putting out the awning lights and the outside/inside thermometer. But those things are optional, so I don't sweat it if I don't get around to it.

Breaking camp is pretty much a reverse, although the order changes somewhat. Always, always, always check below, around and above the trailer before leaving camp. See that TV antenna sticking up? Remember how we used the cable instead? Yes, but not every place has cable. Get in the habit of checking things that sometimes go unnoticed, such as the range hood vent or TV antenna. Double check the hitch. Pull to the end of the driveway and then get out and check the hitch again (can't be too careful).

Congrats on your new Dutchmen. We have the one in the sig below, purchased in October of 2010. We've been all over California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas with it and absolutely love it. Good too see others enjoying their Dutchmen!

Congrats on your new trailer Krazykid...Sinse you have the same Trailer is there anything you think i should look for in particular when we pick it up. Apparently they are fitting the Brake Controller & EQ Hitch on pick up day. In the mean time i have to change my Mirrors for the towing kind.
Have you managed to take yours out yet ??

BritRam wrote:Congrats on your new trailer Krazykid...Sinse you have the same Trailer is there anything you think i should look for in particular when we pick it up. Apparently they are fitting the Brake Controller & EQ Hitch on pick up day. In the mean time i have to change my Mirrors for the towing kind.
Have you managed to take yours out yet ??

To be real honest....I relied on the folks and information on this site and a couple of others for the do's and don'ts of the PDI. I did the best I could going over every inch of the TT and quickly realized that I (as a new TT owner) knew more about what to look for than the RV service guy doing the inspection. I have an iPad with a PDF app called sign N send which allows me to take notes on the PDI check list I found on the internet. I negotiated a prodigy P3 brake controller and WD hitch into my sales deal which I chose to install myself as I enjoy doing things to my truck properly the first time. Watching a few videos on YouTube and reading on this site will get you a great understanding of how to properly setup a WD hitch. (My 4yr old and I did ours at the local elementary school in about an hour.)

We have booked a couple of trips for later this spring and summer, but have not been able to schedule a weekend away from home yet, however my 7yr old has spent every Friday and Saturday night in the trailer in the back yard since we brought it home. I have tons to learn and have enjoyed the process so far. Good luck and take your time going over all the systems in great detail. (The delivery dealership I picked mine up from was SUPER easy to deal with so I think that made a huge difference.)